DEREPLICATION OF ANTITUMOR/CYTOTOXIC NATURAL PRODUCTS

THE ELIMINATION (DEREPLICATION) OF KNOWN NATURAL PRODUCTS AND DUPLICATE LEADS FROM SCREENING PROGRAMS AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE TO ASSURE THAT MAXIMUM ATTENTION IS GIVEN TO TRULY NOVEL COMPOUNDS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPUTERIZED DATABANK IS PROPOSED. IT WILL CONTAIN INFORMATION FOR THE RAPID EXCLUSION OF KNOWN, BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE COMPOUNDS ENCOUNTERED DURING THE SCREENING OF MICROORGANISMS, FUNGI, HIGHER PLANTS, AND MARINE ORGANISMS. EMPHASIS WILL BE PLACED UPON ULTRAVIOLET ABSORPTION AND MOLECULAR WEIGHT INFORMATION. THESE DATA ARE USUALLY THE FIRST DEFINITIVE PROPERTIES DETECTED IN SEMIPURIFIED CONCENTRATES OF NATURAL PRODUCTS OBTAINED DURING THE VERY EARLY STAGES OF ISOLATION WORK. SEVERAL OTHER DATA FIELDS SUCH AS STRUCTURE TYPE, MOLECULAR FORMULA, RELATED COMPOUNDS, PRODUCING ORGANISM, AND ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS ARE INCLUDED. KEY LITERATURE REFERENCES TO EACH COMPOUND ARE CITED SO THAT DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT COMPOUNDS RETRIEVED FROM SEARCHES OF THE DATABASE CAN BE READILY OBTAINED. THIS DATABASE WILL BE PROGRAMMED SO THAT IT CAN BE EASILY SEARCHED, USING SEARCH CRITERIA THAT ARE MOST IMPORTANT FOR THE DEREPLICATION OF UNKNOWN NATURAL PRODUCTS. ALSO, A CONVENIENT PROCEDURE WILL BE PROVIDED TO OBTAIN SUMMARY ORFULL REPORTS OF RELATED COMPOUNDS HAVING, FOR EXAMPLE, THE SAME STRUCTURE TYPES, ACTIVITIES, AND/OR MOLECULAR WEIGHTS OR MOLECULAR FORMULAS WITHIN A SPECIFIED RANGE.